Brother
by Mii-Chan 24
Summary: What I did not know has cost you dear, for there is no cure for death...'Post end of series, Pre Shamballa one shot...don't want to spoil it here!


**Brother**

**By Amaya 24**

**Disclaimer: FMA is not mine. The song 'Brother' isn't mine, but I do know who sings it. (Vic Mignogna). So yeah, don't sue me.**

_How can I repay you, brother mine? _

_How can I expect you to forgive? _

_Clinging to the past I shed our blood, and shattered your chance to live. _

_Though I knew the laws, I paid no heed. _

_How can I return your wasted breath? _

_What I did not know has cost you dear, for there is no cure for death. _

_Beautiful Mother, soft and sweet, once you were gone we were not complete. _

_Back through the years we reached for you. _

_Alas, twas not meant to be. _

_And how can I make amends for all that I took from you? _

_I lead you with hopeless dreams. _

_My brother, I was a fool. _

Alfonse Heindrich gazed at the crumpled sheet of paper with a confused look in his blue eyes. He hadn't meant to sneak into Edward's room after he'd fallen asleep, but today the blond had been incredibly quiet, even for him. Almost like it would hurt him to say something. Alfonse tried to think of anything that would set him off that way, but came up blank. The only thing both boys had done was meet with Doctor Oberth at the rocketry seminar, and accidentally bump into Officer Hughes on their way back to the apartment that the boys shared. Edward had been all right until then, and managed to smile a little at Hughes' when he had tried to talk to Gracia downstairs. After that, though, Edward had seemed moody, depressed even. And now he was writing poetry? Alfonse wasn't even sure what the words on the paper meant.

He jumped slightly when Edward murmured something in his sleep. _'Winry' _maybe? Alfonse had heard a lot of Edward's stories of another world, where alchemy was key and physics and chemistry were only scoffed at. _His_ world. So what did the words mean? Was he writing about the other world?

With a resigned sigh, Alfonse went back to his room, the poem or song, whatever it was, clutched in his fist. Edward was his friend, and he really wanted to help him out. He even tried to replay the conversation the boys had with Hughes earlier:

_"Edward! Alfonse!" Hughes had called from the beer hall. To Alfonse, it seemed he had more of a chance of finding Hughes there instead of with the other officers._

_"Hello, Officer." He'd responded, smiling slightly at the figure before them. Edward stopped next to him, giving Hughes that look he got every time he looked at Gracia, or even at Alfonse himself. Almost like he knew them from before._

_"Hey Hughes." He'd answered, sounding bored._

_"Don't you 'Hey' me, Edward. It's called respecting your elders." Hughes had snapped. It was routine with them, Edward goading Hughes about Gracia, and Hughes retaliating with the whole 'respect your elders' sermon._

_"Right, right. So, you planning on proposing to Gracia any time soon?" Edward murmured, a knowing smile on his face._

_"Edward!" Hughes blustered, his face turning red as the rest of the men in the beer hall jeered at him._

_"Geez, Ed..." Alfonse had sighed. Typical of Ed..._

_"Oh, come on! It's not like you weren't thinking it too, Alfonse." He'd answered, the gold eyes boring into his own light blue._

_"Enough, boys. What are you up to?" Hughes had said, seeming almost cheerful now._

_  
"Nothing." Alfonse had replied, and Edward nodded absently._

_"Yeah, what he said."_

_"Fine, but don't you go getting into trouble you hear?" Hughes had said as the boys had walked away. Alfonse turned to Edward, hoping to continue their conversation where they had left off before Hughes, but the blond beside him had a pensive look on his face, like he was trying to remember something but the thought kept eluding him. Alfonse had just shrugged it off, knowing Edward well enough to know that there was no talking to the boy when he was like that._

Yet now here he was, standing in the doorway of Edwards's room, clutching at the wrinkled sheet of paper he'd found next to the wastebasket in Edward's room. There were inkblots on the paper, and long scratches, like Edward had been fighting with someone while trying to write it. Alfonse watched Edward for a few more minutes before yawning and heading back to bed, his mind slowly fogging up.

In Amestris, Alphonse Elric was having a nightmare. Well, not really a nightmare; he wasn't really sure what it was. It was like looking into another world (which he probably was. Who knew?) It was another world, one on the brink of war, a world where his older brother had been stranded in. He didn't want to admit it, but those dreams were always _strange_. Haunting him for days sometimes. Despite himself, though, he always looked forward to those dreams. He'd only ever told Izumi about them: how they showed him where his brother, where _Edward_ was. In a way, it was like the brothers were still together. Except for one major difference. When he had his dreams, Alphonse was always in the body of someone else. It _was_ him, but it wasn't at the same time. Also, the other him was sick. He hadn't told Edward, but the coughing wouldn't stop. Al was worried, wondering what would happen if the other him died. Would he still be able to see his brother?

Tonight's dream was weird, even by Al's standards. He was standing outside of Ed's bedroom, watching him murmur something about Winry. He had a piece of paper in his hand.

After leaving Ed, Al opened up the piece of paper, reading his brother's untidy scrawl. Even reading the first line was agony for Al. Of course he knew what Ed was talking about when he had written that. Even in his dream, Al shuddered at the thought of the failed transmutation, what had cost him four years' worth of memories, of his life with his older brother. Al read the paper again, shaking his head. Ed was _still_ blaming himself?

Al picked up a pen and began writing.

_Don't cry for the past now, brother mine. _

_Neither you nor I are free from blame. _

_Nothing can erase the things we did, for the path we took was the same. _

_Beautiful Mother, soft and sweet, once you were gone we were not complete. _

_Back through the years we reached for you. _

_Alas, twas not meant to be. _

_My dreams made me blind and mute. _

_I longed to return to that time. _

_I followed without a word. _

_My brother, the fault is mine. _

_So, where do we go from here? _

_And how to forget and forgive? _

_What's gone is forever lost. _

_Now, all we can do is live._

Re-reading what he'd written, Al sighed with satisfaction. Still in his other body, he snuck back to Ed's room, watching as he slept. He opened up the paper and smoothed it out as best as he could, quietly cursing his brother's lack of organization. Content with the result of his work, Al placed the paper in the middle of Ed's desk, hoping his older brother would read it come morning.

With that, Alphonse Elric went back to his counterpart's room. A few seconds later, he woke up back in Amestris, in Granny Pinako's house, no less, to Winry's concerned gaze.

"Al..." She said, smiling. "What was it this time? Was it a nightmare?"

It took a few seconds for Al to realize what she was talking about. He shook his head and smiled.

"I saw brother." He said, sitting up. Winry's face was shocked. Al continued. "He seems alright, but he was thinking about you." He stood up, patted Den's head, and walked off in search of breakfast, not noticing the light blush on Winry's cheeks.

A/N: Okay, it's a bit on the rough side, but my brain is fried from school (thank god for intersession), so yeah. R&R peoples!


End file.
